In the end the Big 3 US Automakers will get assistance and I hope they do.  I just want to make sure it is used correctly and not to line the pockets of the wealthy.

MSNBC.com and Reuters is reporting that GM is Returning 2 Leased Jets from their corporate fleet.

GM to return two leased jets amid criticism

By Poornima Gupta

DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Corp will return two of its leased corporate jets amid intense criticism in Washington this week on the luxury travel arrangements of its chief executive even as the company pleads for federal aid.

CEO Rick Wagoner was in the capital to testify on the company’s dire financial situation but his testimony was overshadowed by irate lawmakers who blasted him for flying on a private jet to ask for public funds and failing to make personal sacrifices in exchange for federal assistance.

Chief executives from Ford Motor Co, and Chrysler LLC, who were also there to plead for $25 billion in federal aid, came under fire too for flying to Washington in private jets.

GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said on Friday GM decided to return the aircraft because of a “really aggressive cutback in travel.”

The company, which is in a cost-cutting mode, is scrutinizing every trip, he said, but declined to disclose the name of the company it leases the airplanes from.

Wilkinson said the decision to return the leased corporate jets was made before this week’s hearings and that the company in September returned two other of the seven jets it had at the beginning of the year.

“There is a perception issue,” Wilkinson said of Wagoner’s travel to Washington on a private jet. “We need to be very sensitive to that going forward.”

He, however, said the company has not decided on what mode of transportation Wagoner would take if had to travel to Washington again.

Wagoner and Ford CEO Alan Mulally are required by their companies to fly by private aircraft for security reasons, according to company documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The policy for Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli is not required to be disclosed because the company is not publicly traded.

Skeptical lawmakers took to task the three CEOs for their luxurious travel arrangements at congressional committee hearings.

“Couldn’t you have downgraded to first class or something, or jet-pooled or something to get here?” Rep. Gary Ackerman, a New York Democrat, asked the executives at a hearing held by the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.

Even Democrats who said they were sympathetic to the automakers’ plight expressed frustration that the executives used private jets while professing ruthless cost-cutting measures.

A Chrysler spokesman said the automaker also leases or charters jets. He, however, declined to comment on whether the company was rethinking the use of private jets for executive travel, saying it was a “private matter.”

Ford did not have an immediate comment on its corporate jet policy.

According to Ford’s proxy, CEO Mulally’s compensation included $752,203 in 2007 for personal use of company aircraft.

About two years ago, the head of Ford’s North American operations, Mark Fields, gave up use of a corporate jet for personal travel to his home in Florida after the arrangement came under criticism at a time when the automaker was losing billions and slashing jobs.

He now flies first class on commercial planes.

(Additional reporting by David Bailey, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

The Boston Herald is reporting that she is using the publicity for fame credit. But in here interview with People Magazine it appears to me that she was more trying to clear her name and apologize to Mrs. Spitzer and CNN.com gave more details and objective reporting of the situation and the interviews.

Prostitute to Spitzer’s wife: ‘I’m sorry’

Story Highlights

• Dupre’s message to Silda Wall Spitzer: “I’m sorry for your pain”
• She says she was stricken by the pained expression on Silda Wall Spitzer’s face
• Dupre, 23, said Spitzer was polite and businesslike when they met

NEW YORK (AP) — The prostitute at the center of the scandal that brought down former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has apologized to his wife.

Ashley Alexandra Dupre also sat down with Diane Sawyer for an ABC “20/20″ segment to be aired Friday.

Ashley Alexandra Dupre tells People magazine that the FBI informed her in early March that it was investigating one of her clients. A few days later, she found out which client when she recognized Spitzer on TV — resigning.

That was March 12, after revelations Spitzer had used Emperors Club VIP, where Dupre worked.

She says she was stricken by the pained expression on Silda Wall Spitzer’s face.

“I try not to revisit that place too often, but when I think about his speech, I think of her face, her eyes, the hurt,” Dupre said.

Her message to Silda Wall Spitzer: “I’m sorry for your pain.”

Dupre, 23, said Spitzer was polite and businesslike when they met. “Some guys, they want to have conversations and really get to know each other. With him, it clearly was not like that,” she said. “It was more of a transaction. Strictly business.”

Dupre, who was known then as Kristen, said she practiced safe sex with all her clients, including Spitzer. On her attorney’s advice, she would not elaborate on their liaison, or say whether Spitzer visited her more than once. She did say that he dressed casually and she did not see his security detail.

Dupre also sat down with Diane Sawyer for an ABC “20/20″ segment to be aired Friday. In that interview, ABC said, she describes how an “upper middle-class, girl next door got into the profession and the psychological journey she continues to experience.”

Four people have pleaded guilty to running the prostitution operation. Last week, federal prosecutors said they wouldn’t bring criminal charges against Spitzer.

Dupre, 23, envisions a future for herself in music, fashion and “writing books” — but not prostitution. “Never again.”

Joe Wurzelbacher of Holland, Ohio

Below is a video of the Infamous Joe Plumber

[sniplet joe-plumber-youtube]

I doubt there will be many fireworks in tonight’s debate.  Though it would be in John McCain’s interest to make something happen as this will be his last chance to kick start his final chance for election victory.  Stay up-to-date on my take on the debate with me on twitter, http://twitter.com/estesce.

The debate starts at 9PM ET / 6PM PT on just about every news network.  I like watching the CNN broadcast of the debate with the annoying Ohio Voters opinion line at the bottom.  I don’t believe the opinion line is accurate but it does show some insight into responses by the candidate.

So join me for the Presidential Debate and kickoff for the race to the end.

From the about page of Wordcamp Birmingham

So what is WordCamp Birmingham?

WordCamp Birmingham is a conference for WordPress users and developers being held in Birmingham, Alabama on September 27 & 28, 2008. It is one of several WordCamps that have been held or being planned around the world.

The folks from Automattic provide this excellent explanation of what the conferences are all about on their WordCamp Central site.

You can form your own opinion when you read the ticker and the following fall-out from another Sarah Palin controversy.  It just goes to show you that e-mail is certainly not secure.  Even the mega secure Yahoo! can be cracked.  Scary, Eh?

McCain camp seeks investigation over reported e-mail hack

(CNN) — John McCain’s campaign said Wednesday it has contacted “appropriate authorities” over a report that Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin’s personal e-mail had been hacked.

“This is a shocking invasion of the Governor’s privacy and a violation of law,” campaign manager Rick Davis said in a statement. “The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these emails will destroy them. We will have no further comment.”

The statement came hours after a user on the Web site WikiLeaks said he had gained access to Palin’s Yahoo e-mail account and gained access.  Screenshots of the e-mail messages and photos of the Alaska governor’s family were published on that Web site and later on gossip Web site gawker.com.

FBI Spokesman Eric Gonzalez in Anchorage, Alaska confirms to CNN an investigation is underway.

“We are aware of the allegations and we are coordinating with Secret Service as far as the allegation that someone has hacked into Governor Palin’s personal e-mail account,” he said. “We are going to be working a joint investigation with Secret Service on this.”

Brian Hale, an FBI spokesman in Washington, also confirms the FBI has been contacted about the incident. Two federal law enforcement sources say the FBI and Secret Service would have concurrent jurisdiction normally on a matter such as this, but it remains to be seen if the Secret Service will take the lead on the investigation because Palin is a protectee.

The e-mails shown include one from July between Palin and Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell and another dated earlier this week from Amy McCorkell, the woman Palin appointed to the Governor’s Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse in 2007.

Palin has faced criticism for using a private e-mail account to conduct some state business — prompting critics to allege she was attempting to hide information from the public record.

Are the fire hydrants in your neighborhood turned on?

ROCKWALL COUNTY – A North Texas homeowner wants you to learn from his family’s tragedy.

By CHRIS HAWES / WFAA-TV – Dallas, TX

The fire hydrants in his neighborhood are turned off.

But he didn’t know that until June 24th, the night his house caught fire.

“My grandfather died last year. My wife’s grandfather died last year. All our pictures were the biggest thing that we lost,” said Eric Aderholt.

It didn’t have to happen. When the fire began, firefighters from around Rockwall County responded quickly.

But when they went to hook hose to hydrant, there was no water.
WFAA-TV
Fire hydrants painted black may not function.

“No one ever told us that they were turned off,” said Aderholt.

Clay Hodges is the general manager of Cash Special Utility District.

He explains all the district’s hydrants, including those in Alexander Ranch, have had their water turned off since just after 9/11 – something a trade association spokesman tells us is common practice for rural systems.

“These hydrants need to be cut off in a way to prevent vandalism or any kind of terrorist activity, including something in the water lines,” Hodges said.

But Hodges says fire departments know, or should have known, the water valves can be turned back on with a tool.

“All our fire departments, at least the local ones, I know were notified of that.”

But, when firefighters came to the Aderholt’s home, no one had that tool.

By the time someone brought it, it was too late.

The neighborhood association’s now working to get the tools in the hands of homeowners, as an extra precaution.

Cash Water’s also sent out a letter letting fire departments know they’re welcome to use the hydrants, if there’s enough water pressure but reminding them they’ll have to turn on the water first.

“It was a tragic situation we don’t like to see that happen to anybody, especially one of our water customers,” said a company representative.

You may have noticed the fire hydrants along Aderholt’s street are black, not red.

In Texas, that legally warns firefighters they may not function – private companies such as Cash Water are not required to maintain enough water pressure to fight fires.

They maintain the hydrants are technically only there to help flush out and clean their systems.

The advertisements are going to be based on content relevant ads that bring in revenue per click and others one I select.  The ones I select will be target to things I think you are interested in.  In order for me to receive revenue it will require you to make a purchase so of course I am only going to put up advertisements you would be interested in.  The banner and content ads are the only type of advertising I plan to us.

There is the thought of sponsored post.  But that would discount the type of post I plan to make.  Speaking of post.  I plan to talk more about politics and a little less this and that.  So for the next few months my theme is going to be Chris Estes on Politics.  I might sneak in a random post or two about just random interesting things.  So get ready and prepare as I plan to bring you coverage of the the National and local races that affect everyone but more specifically the things in my area that matter.  I am going to try and bring fair and balanced information.

Bloggers postings and musings are becoming more and more powerful and I would like for my voice to be heard and addressed.  I have to yet decided on a candidate for president.  Even though I am trending towards one based on the conventions. Within the next few days you are going to witness a change in direction of my blogs change.  As the major changes are in place I will make announcements on how you can utilize the change for you.

My feed url will be changing from a Feedburner URL to a Google Feedburner URL that will need to be updated in your feed aggregator.

Stay Stuned for future updates.

I found a website that is dedicated to pet webpages. You can Join YouPet.com FREE – Make Friends, Watch Videos and more! I thought I had seen all the internet had to offer. But, A Social Network for Your Pet?

They are even using the YouTube surfing and skateboarding dog.

Have you ever seen this before? There is apparently big business in MySpace for Dogs and Facebook for Cats. I wonder if they are going to have LinkedIn for Snakes?

What do you think?

I found this video at I’m Voting Republican.
From their website

MORE ABOUT THE MOVIE
The movie was written and directed by Charlie Steak and produced by SyntheticHuman Pictures. Everyone worked on the film for free. Contributions from individuals paid for most of the expenses.

You can learn more about SyntheticHuman Pictures by clicking on their logo in the top navigation. You can send SyntheticHuman Pictures a gift of one dollar (we’d love to pay the actors and crew) here

[*Button does not work please visit their website to make a donation]

Your gift is not tax-deductible; we’re not a charity. The money will go towards promoting this movie, paying for bandwidth, and getting this message out to as many people as possible.

As the political season heats up expect more politics from me. Though I will probably be biased towards making a better America I will post some humor from all angles. If you notice the title of post as “I’m Voting Republican” that is part of the joke. I have not yet made my decision who I am going to vote for. The media and the parties haven’t figured out who is going to be running for president! I have and still don’t know who to vote for. As the political campaigns ramp-up and more campaign jobs open up and me looking for jobs I might be on the campaign trail myself.

Campaign Organizers and Job Recruiters

So for all the campaign job recruiters out there looking for talent. Check out my interactive portfolio. As an expert in social media and web technologies I can really help your candidate online. Remember in 2004 the lines used by the broadcast media networks after political debates, “Broadcasting Live from the Blog Cafe”? How about really leveraging that coverage for gain everyday? Social Media has grown exponentially since 2004 and reaches more and more everyday.

Until next time this is Chris Estes on This and That

Over the past few months of being an active contributing blogger I have made hundreds of contacts. Are any of them really my friends? A definition of a friend can loosely be defined by anyone. In my opinion a friends is someone you can count on in a bind? Trusting people is one of the hardest things for anyone to do and especially for me.

I have thought about the psychology and risk of it all… People hiding behind an avatar. People covering up their personality flaws. Someone being out right dishonest. People lying and being malicious.

Being new to the contributing blog world I have yet to be mislead. But a part of me wants to fall back on what my momma always said: “Don’t Talk to Strangers”. When people “friend me” I am always hesitant. If I don’t add you don’t be alarmed, I am just doing what my momma told me.

I am perplexed by my new found “friends” and if they are really more than just contacts or avatars on the internet.